From Cairo to Calcutta – exotic Pingrumba goes beyond Dobrumba - English

When it comes to Middle-Eastern cuisine in Budapest, Dobrumba in the heart of the party quarter is invariably at the top of everyone’s list. Now the residents of Buda can look forward to similar exotic delights thanks to the opening of stablemate Pingrumba at Széll Kálmán tér. Even better news, its focus takes in a more expanded culinary horizon, from Cairo to Calcutta.

Following the success of Dobrumba, opened by six friends in 2017, a new location has been found for its sister operation, Pingrumba. Set near Buda’s busiest transport hub, Széll Kálmán tér, this former Chinese restaurant, Ping (hence the name) has been transformed into a cosy, convivial space for relaxed dining.

Photo: Hirling Bálint - We Love Budapest

Certain elements that suit the new concept have been retained and nicely incorporated into the planned interior. The booths in the outer room are gone, instead a spacious, bright space awaits with a children’s corner and a hand-painted dragon above it.

On the other hand, a remodelled image of a cedar tree in a green marble frame still echoes Ping and the 1990s, evoking China and India at the same time. The interior has a sliding glass roof, so in both summer and winter you can sit in natural light in spacious surroundings, amid plentiful greenery.

Founders Eszter Laki, responsible for the décor, Gábor Manek and Péter Breuer, stress that, as with Dobrumba, it was important to show guests the experiences and memories they had gathered based on their own travels, both in terms of the interior and the menu. The dominant blue, turmeric yellow and oxide red blend in harmony with the minimalist furniture, the large white wall surfaces, the Chinese images left over from Ping, the natural light, the breezy layout and the accessories collected from foreign markets on their travels.

As for the menu, there are plenty of curiosities among the more general, easily-understood Oriental dishes. The menu is distinctly long, with a wide selection, and although there is an overlap of one or two with the offerings in Dobrumba, it is mainly Oriental, while Dobrumba is dominated by the Mediterranean. The menu, which evokes inner Asia, Iran, India and the Stans, was put together by the groups from their own favourite regional dishes, leaving room for sharing.

This not only means that everyone can sample a selection of hot and cold meze, the main dishes can also be combined extremely well, regardless whether they are usually found on dining tables in India or Iran. As not only the guest space, the kitchen is also much larger than at Dobrumba, with room for a charcoal oven, significantly enhancing the authenticity of the food.

Many of the meze you might recognise from Dobrumba, although different recipes are used in certain cases, most notably the hummus, delicious and homemade. Other favourites include hummus kawarma (1,900 HUF) with juicy, spicy roasted lamb, the Uzbek preserved eggs with turmeric and beetroot (850 HUF) and, passé at first glance but in reality brilliant, the baked goats’ cheese with figs (1,200 HUF).

Scanning the main courses, you get the feeling that we are starting at the Turkish-Syrian border, walking around Iraq and Iran nicely, and then relaxing on the southern coast of India. Whether this was intended isn’t clear, but in any case, they start with the shakshuka (2600 HUF) and end with a South-Indian crab curry (3,400 HUF), encompassing half of Asia.

From this side of the menu and the atlas, mahi shekam por (3,800 HUF) was the most exciting dish, spice-stuffed charcoal-roasted Iranian golden ruffe fish, but the specially seasoned Iranian chicken ragout (2,900 HUF) would be another stand-out. And, even if the kitchen isn’t specifically Indian, lamb curry (2,700 HUF) would compete with most in town.

If there’s a few of you, at Pingrumba you can try half the menu in smaller bites, even the Indian part. The thali platter (4,500 HUF) is an eight-course taster with spicy tomato soup, dhal, pakora, lamb curry, paneer, rice, raita and grilled vegetables. Although it’s only a quick sample, two not-so-hungry but culinary-curious guests can really dive in.

To finish, there’s cheesy künefe (1,600 HUF) in hot kadaif pasta fried in butter, another rarity in these parts. Drinks follow a similar journey, with refreshing hibiscus or turmeric varieties, mango lassi and coffee-lemonade to suit the dishes, with original alcoholic cocktails to follow at some point. All the same, those coming here by car have an interesting range of booze-free drinks to choose from, guaranteed to impress even the advanced gourmet.